MFWA'S REPORT ON MONITORING ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN LANGUAGE: NPP LEADS FOR THE SIXTH CONSECUTIVE TIME

Introduction
This report presents the findings of monitoring electoral campaign language on radio for the period, September 23 - 29, 2012 (26th week of monitoring). Reports were received on 121 programmes aired on all the 31 radio stations selected for the project. Nine (9) out of the 121 programmes recorded a total of 17 indecent expressions.

For the sixth consecutiveweek, officials and supporters of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) led in the use of indecent expression by making 10 out of the 17 indecent remarks. Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, the NPP MP for Assin North Constituency, was the only individual who made more than one indecent expression.He alone made about a third (6) of the indecent expressions recorded; three were made during the Boiling Point programme on his own radio station,Oman FM, and the other three, in a telephone interview on Classic FM's Kokrokoo programme.

Monitoring electoral campaign language on radio is a project by the Media Foundation for West Africa with funding from STAR-Ghana. The main objective of this project is to contribute to issues-based and decent language campaigning during the December polls.

General Findings on Expressions Used
The 17 indecent expressions captured during the week under review were recorded on nine (9) political discussion programmes. Political activities of the New Patriotic Party(NPP) and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) were the main subjects of discussion during which the indecent expressions were made. Below is a breakdown of the 17 indecent expressions:

§ Insulting/ Offensive Comments – 7
§ Unsubstantiated Allegations – 7
§ Innuendoes – 3

Expressions Used and Political Party Affiliation
One (1) out of the 17 indecent expressions was a rebroadcast.The remaining 16 were indecent remarks made by eleven (11) individuals belonging to the NPP and the NDC. Five (5) of the eleven individuals who were affiliates/supporters of the NPP made a total of 10 indecent remarks. The other six expressions were made by six (6) affiliates of the NDC.

Table 1 below shows the breakdown of the specific indecent expressions made and the political party affiliation of the people who made them.

Table 1: Political Party Affiliation by Expressions Used

Note: The remaining one indecent expression not captured in Table 1 above was a rebroadcast of an offensive remark aired on Adom FM.

Expressions Used and Gender
During the period, no female was found to have made an indecent remark. Neither was any gender-specific indecent remark recorded.

Below are the names of the individuals who used indecent expressions, the radio stations and the dates on which the expressions were made:

Insulting/ Offensive remarks
1. NiiKwatei Titus Glover, a member of the NPP Communication Team – during Hot FM's Maakye programme of September 24, 2012

2. Hon. Maxwell Kofi Djumah, NPP MP for Asokwa – during Adom FM'sNiamehunuDwumadieprogramme of September 26, 2012

3. Mr.KojoOwusu of the NPP – during Classic FM's Kokrokoo programme of September 26, 2012

4. Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, NPP MP for Assin North – made 2 on his own radio station, Oman FM,during the station's Boiling Point programme of September 25, 2012 

5. Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, NPP MP for Assin North – again on his own radio station,Oman FM,during the Boiling point programme of September 27, 2012

6. Adom FMreplayed an offensive remark during theDwasoNsem programme of September 24, 2012

Unsubstantiated allegations
1. AtimoAmihere, an NDC supporter who called during Ankobra FM's Breakfast Tableprogramme of September 24, 2012

2. Mr. Simon AdomBoafo of the NDC – during Space FM's Morning Flight programme of September 25, 2012

3. Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, NPP MP for Assin North – made 3 in a telephone interview on Classic FM's Kokrokooprogramme of September 26, 2012

4. Mr. Martin KwabenaYeboah of the NDC – during Classic FM's Kokrokoo programme of September 26, 2012

5. Emmanuel, an NDC supporter who called (from Anyaa) during Radio Gold's Tea Cup Segmentof the Gold Power Drive programme of September 28, 2012

Innuendoes
1. Hon. Elvis AfriyieAnkrah, Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development– in a telephone interview onAdom FM's DwasoNsem programme of September 25, 2012

2. Mr. Titus Aikins of the NDC – during Ankobra FM's Breakfast Table programme of September 28, 2012.

3. Agyei, an NPP supporter who called (from Dansoman) during Peace FM'sKokrokooprogramme (phone-in segment) of September 28, 2012

Note:As a policy, the MFWA has decided not to publish the indecent expressions people make since it will amount to rebroadcasting of those remarks. The MFWA has been urging radio stations to desist from the replay of indecent expressions on their networks since they tend to amplify such expressions and their potentially negative ramifications. Thus, the rebroadcasting of the specific indecent expressions recorded in this monitoring exercise will amount to the same inappropriate action. The specific expressions used by persons cited in our reports are, however, available at the MFWA.

Expressions Used and Radio Stations
All the 17 indecent expressions (including the one rebroadcast) were captured on eight (8) radio stations. Classic FM was the only station on which five (5) of the indecorous remarks were made. The breakdown of the indecent expressions captured on each of the eight radio stations is presented in Table 2 below:

Table 2: Radio Stations byExpressions Used

Conclusion
The incidence of indecent expressions has relatively gone down compared to the previous weeks' reports (September 2 – 22, 2012), including the occurrence of indecent expressions on Oman FM. This reduction is, however, not significant enough especially as other radio stations such as Classic FMregistered a lot of indecent expressions in the week under review. The MFWA once again urges the management, editorial board, producers and presenters of all radio stations, especially those cited in this report, to try their best to insist on decency on their respective networks as part of their organisation's contribution towards peaceful, free and fair elections.

Issued by MFWA in Accra on October 05, 2012

The MFWA is a regional independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Accra. It was founded in 1997 to defend and promote the rights and freedom of the media and all forms of expression.